At the postgame press conference following Montana’s 45-10 win over Drake on Saturday, Bobby Kennedy made mention of Landon Ransom-Goelz’ health issues at his previous college stop.

“We’re really happy for Landon because he’s been through a lot in his career,” Kennedy said. “Talking about injuries and a blood clot that he had at Rice, not that a lot of people know about that. To see him go out and I think he had over 100 yards (101 on five catches).  

“To see him do that and I’m really, really happy for the kid.” 

On Monday Ransom-Goelz expanded on the seriousness of the issue. 

“My ‘24 season I didn’t play at all,” he said. “I had the blood clot. ... It was in the back of my brain, my neck. Talking to the doctors, they didn’t really think I was going to play football again.” 

It’s not just that he couldn’t play; Ransom-Goelz wasn’t allowed to do much of anything except go to class. 

“I wasn’t allowed to lift, I wasn’t allowed to do anything for about a year, so I was super skinny — I weighed about 165 pounds,” he said. “I finally came back from that after about a year on blood thinners and played 2025 with a new staff.” 

Four games into that season, he had a partial MCL tear that kept him out three games. When he returned, he broke two bones in a finger and that was the end of his season. 

“It was just a tough period for me. I’m hoping to stay healthy here and produce as much as I can,” he said.  

Kennedy, who was receivers coach at Rice in 2024, is happy to have him and Ransom Goelz is happy to be in Missoula. 

“These past two weeks have been really fun in Wa-Griz,” he said. 

Old Friend Alert 

Nevada coach Jeff Choate hit the ground running at his Monday press conference ahead of a game with Montana State Saturday night in Reno.  

Choate coached the Bobcats from 2016-20, and left in the spring of 2021 to join the staff at Texas. He became the Wolf Pack’s coach on Dec. 3, 2023. 

“I’m just going to tell you exactly what I said yesterday evening, which I think there is going to be a perception or a desire by the media to make this personal,” Choate, whose club walloped Western Kentucky 49-14 Saturday, said. “This is not personal.  

“This is a scheduling decision that was made based on, ‘Here’s the teams that have an available date on Sept. 12, 2026, that can play in Mackay Stadium.’ That list is not very long.” 

He went on to say he wanted a matchup with Montana but that the Grizzlies were not interested, which at best is only partially true. But as the conference went on Choate, who memorably went 4-0 against the Grizzlies, settled into cruising speed. 

“I have a tremendous amount of love for the city and the university and a ton of respect for coach Vigen and the job he’s done elevating that program to a championship level year in and year out,” he said. 

Asked where he was then Montana State defeated Illinois State for the FCS title in January, Choate said he hosted a watch party that his son Jory, a former MSU linebacker, did not attend. 

“My son was actually at the game,” Choate said. “He was having a great time in Nashville.” 

Trailblazers Come in 0-2 

Utah Tech followed up its 54-0 loss at MSU in Week Zero with a 63-7 loss at BYU this past Saturday. Now the Trailblazers come to Missoula as big underdogs. 

“To me there’s no embarrassment in what they’ve done because those two teams they played are really good,” Kennedy said of Utah Tech. “The other thing I would say is this: I know (UT head coach) Lance Anderson; he’s a good friend of mine, he was a great defensive coordinator at Stanford for David Shaw and also Jim Harbaugh. This guy’s really good, and they’re going to present some unique challenges for us.” 

Anderson overlapped with Kennedy at Stanford from 2018-22; he was a defensive assistant there from 2007-22 and was the Cardinal’s defensive coordinator for the last nine seasons.  

Sports Editor Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 406-758-4463 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.